Beijing, China, 1st November
2012—TRAFFIC is urging holiday makers not to buy
marine turtle products through broadcasts in Hainan Province
on local radio FM886.

The FM886 radio campaign aims to
raise awareness among local fishermen, souvenir shop owners
and tourists about the ongoing poaching, illegal processing
and trade in marine turtles. Three key messages are being
broadcasted at least nine times per day until March 2013.

Hainan Province was chosen for the campaign after ongoing
TRAFFIC market surveys found the illegal trade in marine
turtle parts rising there and in Guangxi Province. In 2009,
TRAFFIC surveys found 4,812 marine turtle products for sale
in 57 shops in Hainan, while in July 2012 the number had
risen to 11,255 products in 92 shops.

The survey results
were revealed today in a new report, Market Forces – An
Examination of Marine Turtle Trade in China and Japan.
The report finds significant growth of the trade in China
and persistent demand from the bekko industry in
Japan as factors influencing source country turtle
populations in the Coral Triangle region, particularly
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Asian countries,
especially China and Japan, have a long history of using
marine turtles and their products as luxury goods, souvenirs
and traditional medicine.

“With Hainan a popular
holiday destination and many thousands of visitors each
year, there is a huge demand for souvenirs, but we would
urge visitors not to buy goods made from marine turtles,
which are being sold illegally,” said James Compton,
TRAFFIC’s Senior Programme Director for Asia & the
Pacific.

“Anyone buying or selling such goods faces
prosecution and harsh sentences under Chinese law and is
guilty of contributing to the decline in marine turtle
populations throughout the region.”

Marine turtles are
poached for their tortoiseshell scutes as well as for their
meat and eggs. All species are banned from international
commercial trade under CITES (the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora), and in China they are listed as national
second-class protected animals under the Wild Animal
Protection Law.

In Japan, a persistent demand exists for
highly decorative bekko pieces manufactured from
Hawksbill Turtle shells, while in China the main demand is
for jewellery and whole ornamental specimens, as well as
scutes for use in traditional medicine.

Significantly,
the Chinese government has acknowledged the seriousness of
this problem and in June this year, the Ministry of
Agriculture, Ministry of Public Security and General Customs
launched a joint enforcement action against the illegal
trade.

TRAFFIC has supported this initiative through
working with local government authorities. In July 2012,
more than 110 fisheries enforcement officers from 29 border
checkpoints, along with 10 officers from the Industry &
Commerce department and border police took part in an
enforcement training workshop supported by TRAFFIC in
Haikou, Hainan Province.

In Malaysia and the Philippines,
where marine turtles are sourced, TRAFFIC provided similar
training in 2011 for 30 enforcement officials working inside
one of the Coral Triangle’s transboundary protected areas.
Trainings in Indonesia and Viet Nam are also pending. These
activities are being conducted under the auspices of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement
Network (ASEAN-WEN). They have been accompanied by a review
of national laws pertaining to turtles in Southeast Asia.

“Strengthening law enforcement is critical to deterring
the illegal trade in marine turtles and the poaching of
these animals in source regions,” said Lida Pet Soede,
leader of WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme, based in
Indonesia.

“We are happy to see the Chinese government
paying increased attention to this illegal trade as part of
its focus on combating the wildlife crime whose consequences
are felt well beyond China’s borders.”

TRAFFIC’s
work on combating the illegal trade and reducing the demand
for marine turtle products in China is generously supported
by WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme.

--

About
WWFWWF is one of the world's largest and most
respected independent conservation organizations, with over
5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100
countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the
earth's natural environment and to build a future in which
humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the
world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of
renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting
the reduction of pollution and wasteful
consumption.About
TRAFFICTRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network, works to ensure that trade in wild plants and
animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.
TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of IUCN and
WWF.

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